Wisdom Teeth
by Mezoti
Summary: T'Pol has the Vulcan equivilant to wisdom teeth and they have to come out.


Disclaimer: Paramount owns everything. The characters are theirs. We all   
know this.  
  
A/N: I just had my wisdom teeth out today and I want one of the Enterprise   
characters to (fictionally) suffer with me. Also, the story takes place   
sometime after 'Stigma' and before 'the Expanse'.  
  
Wisdom Teeth  
by: Mezoti  
  
  
  
"I'm sorry, T'Pol. They're going to have to come out."  
  
'He is deriving too much pleasure from this,' T'Pol thought, taking in Dr. Phlox's catlike grin.  
  
She was on one of the beds in sickbay, gently propping herself up on her elbows, since she was loathe to lie down.  
  
T'Pol had reported to sickbay at 0945 hours when the pain radiating from her mouth had finally become unbearable and the pain had started to effect her efficiency on the bridge. She had been tolerating the pain for three days.   
  
"Now," the Doctor continued, "I've heard of a similar problem that afflicts humans. Wisdom teeth or some such. *chuckle* However, I would not have guessed that Vulcans would have such a similar misfortune. Hmmm, well, it's just another fascinating example of the things the two species have in common. Now, what did you say your species calls it again?"  
  
T'Pol looked on with a hooded gaze, her eyes were misting over from the throbbing pain emanating from her gums. She was mulling over whether to take offence about the doctor's comment that there are parallels between Humans and Vulcans.   
  
Seeing that the Sub-Commander was not going to answer his question anytime soon, he just shrugged it off. "No matter. I'll just look it up in the database. Fortunately, I was able to improve the information of Vulcan health problems at the last IME conference. A bit before that uh… that unfortunate incident, shall we say, with the Vulcan contingent."  
  
The doctor walked ('practically floating' T'Pol thought dourly) and tapped on the display. After a quickly tapped search in the Vulcan medical database and a couple of clicks later, he found what he was looking for and started reading.  
  
"Ahhh, so you Vulcans call them 'tolkanar' instead of 'wisdom teeth'?"  
Not waiting for T'Pol's reply, he continued.  
"Interesting. This condition generally effects Vulcans ages 55 to 70. Definitely doesn't effect you early on, does it… Ohhh, that looks almost exactly like a swollen Antarian jellyfish… Condition is very painful. That must be an understatement since a Vulcan wrote this paper… Uh! I wouldn't want too go through that… The longer the teeth are left in the larger they become…"  
  
Up till the Doctor started commenting aloud, T'Pol had been sitting quietly, waiting. Now she was caught between the urge to give Phlox the mother of all nerve pinches or just plain bolting out the door.  
  
Her decision-making was interrupted by a strident *SNAP!* as the doctor shut off the display.  
  
"Well, there is no doubt about it. Your wisdom teeth, or tolkanar as the case may be, must be removed. All six of them and it would be best if they were removed sooner rather than later. Unless, of course, you want your gums to look like a Tirellian puff pastry. But first," Dr. Phlox moved to beside the sickbay imaging chamber and after a quick manipulation of the controls, the portal opened and the inside platform slid out. "I'll need to take a X-Ray of your jaw to see exactly, what is that charming Human phrase again? Ah, yes. I need to see 'what is what'."   
  
T'Pol slid off the bed, which she had made herself comfortable on and started inching towards the door.  
  
"Thank you for your…" she searched for the word "enthusiasm, doctor," she nodded still backing towards the door. "However, I would not wish to take your time away from other patients. Perhaps we should reschedule for some other time?"  
"Nonsense," Dr. Phlox waved her words away. "None of the crew have scheduled physicals until 1500 hours and barring any emergencies there should be plenty of time to access the problem and remove your tolkanar.  
Now, would you please come here, lie down and relax."  
  
The Sub-Commander was at the door by this time and for a few seconds she hesitated, looking from the door, to the doctor and then to the imaging chamber. Door, doctor, imaging chamber.  
  
Finally, and with great reluctance, she trudged over to the imaging platform and lay down on the cool, hard metal.  
  
"Very good." The doctor's tone changed to one of a parent addressing a child. "Now keep very still and the X-Ray will be over before you know it."  
  
She did not even bother to reply to that comment.  
  
The platform, with T'Pol on it, slid quietly back into the imaging chamber and she let her eyes drift closed.  
  
Almost as soon as the platform slid to a stop and the portal closed with a signifying hiss, T'Pol could feel the radiation pulse against her skin.  
  
'It is fortunate,' she idly mused, "that Vulcans are not prone to claustrophobia. For someone that is, for instance Ensign Sato, these scans would most likely be unbearable.'  
  
All too soon the piercing *beep* indicating that the X-Ray was done, echoed throughout the chamber.   
  
The imaging chamber slid open again and T'Pol neatly rolled off the platform and onto her feet. An action which was accompanied by a fierce throb of pain in her mouth, which didn't subside for long seconds.  
  
"T'Pol," Dr. Phlox gestured for her to stand beside him next to a monitor. "You should see this."  
  
Displayed on the monitor was the X-Ray of T'Pol's jaw.  
It was not a pretty site.  
As soon as she had taken her place next to the doctor, Phlox treated her to a lecture.  
  
"As you can see," he said, pointing to the upper molars and tolkanar, "the two tolkanar on both sides of your mouth are crowding against your rear molars." He next pointed to the bottom row of teeth. "And here," he tapped the screen, "your two tolkanar on the bottom are directly under your rear molars. All of them will have to be surgically removed. It will be a relatively simple procedure, but it will be rough on you afterwards and you'll need to rest for several days."  
  
T'Pol's eyes widened slightly at the analysis, but suddenly an excus… ah, thought occurred to her.  
  
"I have to return to the bridge right now. Perhaps we should schedule the procedure for next week?" she asked, a tad too hopefully for a Vulcan.  
  
"No," Dr. Phlox answered. "It would be best to begin the surgery now, rather than later. I'm sure Captain Archer can find a replacement for you for the next couple of days. I'll inform him right after the surgery. Don't worry, once I've pumped the anaesthetics into you, you'll just fall asleep until the procedure is over. Now, go lie down on a bed, while I prepare everything."  
  
T'Pol went back to the bed she had previously occupied. As the doctor put electromagnets on her arms and legs to monitor her and then moved on to stick an IV in her arm, a very un-Vulcan like thought occurred to her.  
  
"He will pay."  
  
  
  
  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   
A/N: Thanks for reading this far. Did you like it? Dislike it? Please review and tell me why. Also, flames are acceptable as long as they have content. After all I want to improve. Thank you again for reading. ~Mezoti 


End file.
